The turgosk race in Abbatine is derived from a slightly different stock than those found in Mardaka. They also seem heir to a different cultural heritage. Whether this is simple due to long isolation or because the two groups originated in different worlds is unknown, even to the turgosk themselves.
Turgosk look vaguely feline. Those in Mardaka are generally black-furred, while those in Abbatine tend towards black striped with green or blue. In both cases, their fur is very fine. Their eyes are large and purple, with an orange iris. Their arms and legs are both reverse-jointed, which improves their motor speed but puts them at a disadvantage when doing fine work. Their hands have two fingers and two opposable thumbs, all equipped with retractable claws. Their feet are pawlike, with a nonretractable dewclaw mounted on the ankle. Their leg structure prevents them from kicking into front hexes, but they can kick in close combat or into rear hexes easily. They are tall, averaging 200 cm, but lean, massing only about 55 kg.
Abbatine turgosk have -1 ST (-10 points), +2 DX (20 points), Claws giving +2 bare-handed damage (15 points), Enhanced Move (10 points), Night Vision (10 points), +1 Acute Vision (3 points), Bad Temper (-10 points), Limited Diet (only raw, freshly-killed meat; -10 points), Limited Manipulators (-1 DX for fine tasks; -10 points), and Stealth @ DX level (2 points). It costs 20 points to be a turgosk.
Abbatine Turgosk usually have a Sense of Duty to their family group. The Gluttony disadvantage is also common. Combat Reflexes is a common advantage.
Turgosk may not purchase the Magery advantage.
Turgosk society in Abbatine is quite sophisticated, based around extended family groups. Leadership of the group is held by the eldest male and eldest female. Usually, the Eldest female is responsible for decisions relating to food supply and internal family matters, while the Eldest male deals with outsiders. This system has weakened sice the fall of Tazik, leading to the sight of young male turgosk far from their relatives trying to find some way to restore their family's wealth.
The core of their culture is based around herding, typically of the houga native to Abbatine's First Pleateau. They tend to be insular around outsiders, and prefer to live independent of other races. The culmination of many turgosk families' ambitions once lay in Tazik Free City, a state dominated by turgosk. The attack of the deyrey from Xod Hive that left Tazik ruined and its surviving inhabitants destitute was a cruel blow to turgosk pride. Though now most turgosk survive as guards and workers for others, especially the Eight Families of Paiden, almost all dream of a return to their days of wealth and self-sufficiency.
The most important limit upon turgosk society is their diet. The fact that they can only live upon fresh meat forces them into either hunting or herding societies. In either case, their numbers and stability is limited by their inability to preserve food, save by keeping their animals alive. One of the keys to the survival of Tazik was the massive quantity of herded houga the leading families controlled. Most of those herds have been dispersed or killed by the deyrey of Xod Hive. Until those herds can be rebuilt, no large turgosk city can be established.
The turgosk inability to use magic only compounds their problems. While certain well-known magics could enable them to preserve food or breed more fruitful animals, they are unable to use and cast these spells. Turgosk self-reliance and ferocity makes it quite difficult for them to obtain the help they need from other races.
The conflict of the turgosk of Tazik and the deyrey of Xod Hive directly displays most of the unique limitations faced by the race. Though individually turgosk are more than a match for deyrey neuters, the omnivorous deyrey are able to support a much larger population base on the same amount of land. Even though the lands directly controlled by Xod Hive were slightly smaller than those controlled by Tazik, the deyrey could bring a force of neuters larger than the entire population of Tazik to the siege. This imbalance was only made worse by the fact that the deyrey forces were heavily bolstered by the magical deyrey drones, while the turgosk had practically no magical support. The final insult was brought by the fact that the turgosk could not bring all their herds into the city, and could not rely upon stored foodstuffs once the siege began. Of all the races living in Abbatine, the turgosk are the least-well-equipped to survive any sort of siege.